


An Unquiet Conscience

by Woolverine



Series: Reye Vidal Appreciation Week [3]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 08:24:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11376336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woolverine/pseuds/Woolverine
Summary: Takes place after High Noon





	An Unquiet Conscience

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after High Noon

“This is a bad idea, Reyes,” Keema said.

“Still needs to be done, big sister. After what I’ve done to him, Kaetus deserves as much  honesty as I can give him.”

“You dislike him, he’s done terrible things, you don’t owe him anything,” his friend insisted. 

“Conversation over, Keema. I’m going in there,” Reyes replied. 

The angaran woman shook her head in frustration. Reyes smiled at her. Keema had trouble understanding why he did certain things which seemed reckless or foolhardy, and which brought no gain or benefit that she could see. Of course, not even Keema could see his conscience. Reyes had had good reasons for having Kaetus beaten by his own men. That didn’t mean he had to like the decision, or the results. Kaetus was still heavily injured, with weeks more of healing before he could get out of bed. It wasn’t that Reyes felt guilty - necessity had driven the decision - but he felt something he couldn’t quite define. 

Bottom line - he was going to talk to Kaetus, alone, without visible weapons, and Keema wasn’t going to persuade him otherwise. 

The change in regime had had little impact on the turian’s treatment. He was in the same room, being seen by the same doctor. There were different guards outside the door, and there were no longer any weapons in the room. No one had told Kaetus Sloane was dead but the man must have realised by now. The lack of information must be killing him, and Reyes needed a sop for his unquiet conscience. 

Kaetus didn’t move or open his eyes when the door opened. It wasn’t until Reyes pulled the chair closer to the bed and sat down that Kaetus turned his head to see who had entered. 

“Vidal,” Kaetus said. “How the hell did you get in here? And what the fuck do you want?”

“I got in the usual way, Kaetus, by calling in favours. I don’t know what you’ve been told about recent events. I’m here to tell you what’s happened,” Reyes answered. 

“Oh, I know what’s happened. The Charlatan has killed Sloane and the fucking Collective have taken over Kadara Port.” The turian looked away. 

“We were never going to be friends, you and I, Kaetus. I’ve got a lot of respect for you though, and you deserve more than speculation. There are dozens of rumours. I thought you’d want to hear from someone who was there.”

Kaetus tried to sit up, tried to grab at Reyes, but fell back, exhausted by even the minor effort. “What the fuck were you doing there, Vidal? You lead Sloane into a trap?”

“The Collective took me along. They’d heard Sloane was bringing the Pathfinder, they knew I’d got a…. connection with Ryder, wanted to use me.” Reyes shrugged. “Sloane walked into the trap with her eyes open.”

Reyes could feel the turian’s stare burning straight through his skin and flesh, a tunnel of hatred through to his soul.

“I’m taking no pleasure in this, Kaetus. If you truly do not want to know, tell me. I’ll go away.”

Kaetus exhaled. “I don’t know if I want to know, but I… need to know, Vidal.”

Reyes nodded. That was a state of mind he was all too familiar with, the state of mind he had been in when planning Sloane’s death.

“The Charlatan invited Sloane to a meeting in Draullir. When she arrived, with the Pathfinder, he challenged Sloane to duel for control of Kadara. Sloane agreed. They circled each other, watching, waiting for someone to make the first move. Then, there was a shot and Sloane fell to ground, one shot through the heart. She was dead before she hit the ground, never knew a sniper in the shadows had taken a shot while she was watching the Charlatan.” Reyes’ words rang with real sadness and regret. He hoped Kaetus could hear those feelings. 

“What about the Pathfinder? What did she do? Why didn’t she save Sloane?” Kaetus demanded.

“Kaetus, I knew where the sniper’s nest was, and I couldn’t see the sniper. I don’t think we can have expected Ryder to have seen the sniper and reacted. I honestly don’t.” 

“And what about you, Vidal? You knew the sniper was there. Why didn’t you warn Sloane?” Kaetus asked, bitterly.

Reyes sighed. “Sloane treated me with nothing but contempt. I had no personal loyalty to her. I had no liking for her. Why should I have got myself killed so she could live, Kaetus?”

“Sloane saved this planet from the kett. Made a place here for the exiles. That’s why, Vidal,” Kaetus snarled. 

“You weren’t with us when we first arrived on Kadara, Kaetus. All the talk is, Sloane killed the kett, so she deserved to be in charge. You know what? I killed dozens of kett. So did everyone. What Sloane did was point us where to go. She didn’t kill more kett than any of us. Shouldn’t that make me King of Kadara? Shouldn’t that make Kian King of Kadara? Or Cele? I saw Cele kill five kett in under two minutes, with a fucking sword. Shouldn’t she be Queen of Kadara too, instead of dancing in a fucking cage for arseholes to wank over?”

“You don’t understand, Vidal. You didn’t know Sloane back in the Milky Way.”

“I don’t think you really knew Sloane here in Heleus. The cryo changed some people. Would the Sloane you followed and respected in the Milky Way, would she have had torture rooms? Would she have turned a blind eye to rape? Would she have ordered people to be kicked to death? Tell me that, Kaetus. Tell me why you would follow a monster to another galaxy.”

Reyes didn’t expect to change the turian’s opinion, didn’t expect to circumvent the vengeance which would be coming his way once Kaetus healed and started searching for the Charlatan. But if he could sow some seeds in the turian’s mind, perhaps he could limit the slaughter. Perhaps Kaetus would be satisfied with the Charlatan’s blood only, wouldn’t seek out and destroy Sara or Keema, wouldn’t dismantle the Collective corpse by bloody corpse, and return Kadara to a regime of terror. 

“Sloane wasn’t a monster in the Milky Way. It was those shortsighted fools on the Nexus who banished her, made her become something different. Sloane had to take control whatever way she could or all the exiles would have died,” Kaetus said. He wasn’t convincing.

“Yeah, because Tann and Addison are so fucking competent… no, I’m not going to go there. Here, got something for you. Read it later, it will help you understand what happened to your friend, I hope. I’ll give you the highlights now.” Reyes put a datapad on the bed. 

“The short story is, it’s been discovered that the cryo caused changes to some people’s brains. Turned off parts which stop them doing whatever the fuck they feel like doing. There have been attempts to find a treatment, but there’s a problem with that. The affected ones like the change, they enjoy being monsters. Remind of you anyone?” 

“Sloane was sick? Even less reason to kill her then,” Kaetus snarled. 

“No one here knew about the problem until afterwards. But Kaetus, really, can you see Sloane submitting to treatment for a problem she wouldn’t have admitted to?” 

Grudgingly, “No. Sloane would have kicked anyone suggesting it all the way back to the docks.”

“And we both know, she was getting worse. More madness was on the way. You’re going to want payback for your friend. I would, in your position. I’d want to tear the sun out of sky and burn the bastard to ash. All I’m asking is, all I’m begging for, is don’t take Kadara down with the Charlatan. Don’t destroy what’s building here. The water isn’t poisonous any more. People are thinking about having kids, having a proper life, not just scrabbling to survive. Let them have their chance.” 

The human man exhaled, never taking his eyes off Kaetus. “One life for one life. Let that be enough.”

Kaetus met Reyes’ gaze for a moment only. The turian looked away from what he saw in those eyes, behind the mask. 

“I’ll consider it, Vidal. That’s as far as I’m willing to go right now,” Kaetus said.

“That’s as much as I was hoping for,” Reyes replied. “Anything I can get for you, that they’ll let you have?”

“How about the Charlatan’s description? Maybe a name? That would be a nice start.” 

“Ah, Kaetus, that would be putting a bullet in my own brain. No can do.”

The turian made a rusty, choking noise. Reyes thought it might be a chuckle. “Maybe I’ll do that for you anyway, Vidal, once I’m out of here.”

“Don’t doubt it for a second, Kaetus. I’ll be watching for you coming.”

“You can try.” Kaetus held out a hand for Reyes to shake. “Thank you for visiting, for telling me straight. I appreciate it. I’ll try to make it painless, if I do come for you.”

Reyes took the turian’s hand. “I’’d appreciate a chance to send a last goodbye, if it comes to that, Kaetus.”

“Agreed.”


End file.
